Schools closed for students Monday Feb 2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only people that are pro-virtual are parents who have kids that can be independent learners and are fluent in English. They can’t see past their own little bubble of affluence. They could afford learning pods during COVID or sit with their children while teaching was going on. Not everyone has this luxury. Trying to teach my students while simultaneously teaching my child with learning disabilities was nothing short of awful. Add in our non-English speaking families and it was a struggle for them to help support learning in a language that they don’t understand.

On the flip side, find me a teacher that loved virtual learning and I’ll guarantee you that they taught a class where the kids wanted to be there and didn’t need extra support.

I will personally be happy if I never have to provide virtual instruction or parent a child with an IEP who is receiving virtual instruction ever again.

Adding to my original thought, take away my spring break, holidays, add on to the end of the year. I don’t care. Just give me in person teaching.

Really? For in-person teaching, what we got last year for snow days was 3 half days in end-June where students mostly played videos while cleaning out their classroom. I don't understand why you would hate virtual learning so much, but be eager to have your kid come to school to watch videos on days tacked on to the school year after teachers are done teacher, if this is all about the "quality of instruction" for you.

Because I actually TEACH. I don’t watch movies with my children. Never have and never plan to since I work with our most vulnerable special education families.

How lovely for your kids. My kids' school sent out a message saying kids did not need to come if they had other plans because there wouldn't be any curricular instruction. I guess this is one of the cases where special needs kids get more resources than those without special needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't go through all of the pages and on the DCPS pages. Why did we not have school but they did? The streets are similar or worse there?

Putting aside the discussion of walker conditions, the buses are an issue for MCPS.

Most schools are open today. Most of these districts also have school buses, but somehow they managed it. Some have virtual learning, which MCPS didn't bother to get permission to make a plan to do. MCPS is being a special snowflake.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026...virginia-snow-storm/
Alexandria City Public Schools: Virtual learning
Anne Arundel County Public Schools: Two-hour delay Monday and Tuesday.
Arlington County Public Schools: Closed; two-hour delay Tuesday
Calvert County Public Schools: Two-hour delay
Charles County Public Schools: Two-hour delay
Culpeper County Public Schools: Two-hour delay
D.C. Public Schools: Two-hour delay
Fairfax County Public Schools: Closed
Falls Church City Public Schools: Two-hour delay
Fauquier County Public Schools: Closed
Howard County Public Schools: Two-hour delay Monday and Tuesday
Loudoun County Public Schools: Two-hour delay
Montgomery County Public Schools: Closed
Pr. George’s County Public Schools: Two-hour delay; Code Orange
Prince William County Public Schools: Closed
Spotsylvania County Public Schools: Remote learning Monday and Tuesday; 12-month employees to report on time.
Stafford County Public Schools: Closed
https://www.thebanner.com/education/k-12-scho...CGZARVMWHPUHLYH5SYI/

Anne Arundel County Public Schools will open two hours late Monday and Tuesday.
Baltimore County Public Schools will open two hours late Monday.
Caroline County Public Schools will open two hours late Monday.
Cecil County Public Schools will open two hours late Monday.
Charles County Public Schools will open two hours late Monday.
Howard County Public Schools will open two hours late Monday and Tuesday.
Kent County Public Schools will open two hours late Monday.
Montgomery County Public Schools will be closed Monday. Offices will open on time, and staff should report as on a regular noninstructional day
Prince George’s County Public Schools will open two hours late Monday. .
Queen Anne’s County Public Schools will open 90 minutes late Monday.

PG pivoted to a closure this morning. I don’t think this whole list needs to be related every time someone asks about dcps specifically and someone makes the point that they do not have to worry about bus clearance.

The point is a whole lot of schools are open today. Some were open last week. It isn't just DCPS which has metro. Some schools have virtual learning. Many schools have buses running even though the snow hasn't melted.

People keep insisting that MCPS is special. That it can't open, that it can't do virtual learning. That its just TOO HARD. But these these other schools can't.

MCPS is the biggest county in the state. Fairfax county is also closed in VA. PG county also decided to close today. Stop bashing MCPS. Its not the only county closed. Yes private schools are open, lucky them. Not the end of the world.

There's a dozen public school districts in the close-in DMV area open today. MCPS is not the ONLY county closed, but 7 days after the storm, it's close to the bottom of the barrel, if not THE bottom of the barrel. MCPS is completely closed. It has no virtual learning option. It has no prospects to do virtual learning because it neglected to submit the plan it promised to do in 2024 to MSDE. And it was so dumb it only included 1 snow day in the calendar, even though we had a deficit of 3 snow days last year and a disaster 3 days of "in person learning" tacked on at the very end of June.

You have low standards for what MCPS is expected to deliver. I don't.

Exactly.

The excuses for low standards are just sad.

Some of us don’t accept mediocrity for our kids.

At this point I would be happy if MCPS were mediocre. It's been an abysmal failure compared to other schools in the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they will use the day with staff in schools to finally pivot to a freaking virtual learning model rather than throw all this learning time into the toilet?

I’m a teacher and I am wondering if this is the plan too.

Teachers and staff are not working today, not even remotely, despite the announcement. Our school meeting has been canceled, and we were informed that we had misunderstood thr MCPS message. They don’t even bother to notified us of the cancellation…

Isn't this supopsed to be the non-instructional day to finish grading for MP2? Are we going to not get report cards til March at this rate?

[Anonymous]

Anyone else's school send out a "safety reminder as we return to school" note? Just received about 10 min ago...

[Anonymous]

Virtual for even a week is very different than virtual for a year. It's completely disingenuous to compare covid virtual to limited snow-day virtual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two things can be true at once. Virtual learning works well for us because I have a (demanding) job where I can work from home, and my kids are neurotypical learners. Virtual learning is a dumpster fire for teachers, kids who are neurodivergent, kids with families who don’t have available computers, or kids who don’t have parents who can monitor and implement (i.e., work outside of the home, don’t speak English, etc.). Why should alllll of those families be disadvantaged just because it works for mine? It’s highly inequitable.

Well said

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they will use the day with staff in schools to finally pivot to a freaking virtual learning model rather than throw all this learning time into the toilet?

I’m a teacher and I am wondering if this is the plan too.

Teachers and staff are not working today, not even remotely, despite the announcement. Our school meeting has been canceled, and we were informed that we had misunderstood thr MCPS message. They don’t even bother to notified us of the cancellation…

Isn't this supopsed to be the non-instructional day to finish grading for MP2? Are we going to not get report cards til March at this rate?[/quote

Grades are due tomorrow. Report Cards go out a week after that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two things can be true at once. Virtual learning works well for us because I have a (demanding) job where I can work from home, and my kids are neurotypical learners. Virtual learning is a dumpster fire for teachers, kids who are neurodivergent, kids with families who don’t have available computers, or kids who don’t have parents who can monitor and implement (i.e., work outside of the home, don’t speak English, etc.). Why should alllll of those families be disadvantaged just because it works for mine? It’s highly inequitable.

Well said

Virtual learning is a second best option to in-person learning. But it's a far better option than what MCPS chose last year, which was to add half day days in June when the school year has ended and no material is taught.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HS teacher here. I really wish we had a few days of virtual school. This is getting ridiculous. And once we go back, it takes a couple days to get back into the groove so the first couple days are inefficient. I wish I could have done virtual for my AP kids. No one ever thinks about them.

Go away teacher. This thread is for people who want to complain that anyone who wants to open schools 7 days after a storm while it's bright and sunny day hates children and wants them dead from a falling icicle to the head. All the school districts in the area that operated today--DCPS, ACPS, HoCo, Baltimore, Falls Church, Loudoun County, Alexandria-- they are full of parents who hate their children so much they made them attend school!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't go through all of the pages and on the DCPS pages. Why did we not have school but they did? The streets are similar or worse there?

Putting aside the discussion of walker conditions, the buses are an issue for MCPS.

Most schools are open today. Most of these districts also have school buses, but somehow they managed it. Some have virtual learning, which MCPS didn't bother to get permission to make a plan to do. MCPS is being a special snowflake.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026...virginia-snow-storm/
Alexandria City Public Schools: Virtual learning
Anne Arundel County Public Schools: Two-hour delay Monday and Tuesday.
Arlington County Public Schools: Closed; two-hour delay Tuesday
Calvert County Public Schools: Two-hour delay
Charles County Public Schools: Two-hour delay
Culpeper County Public Schools: Two-hour delay
D.C. Public Schools: Two-hour delay
Fairfax County Public Schools: Closed
Falls Church City Public Schools: Two-hour delay
Fauquier County Public Schools: Closed
Howard County Public Schools: Two-hour delay Monday and Tuesday
Loudoun County Public Schools: Two-hour delay
Montgomery County Public Schools: Closed
Pr. George’s County Public Schools: Two-hour delay; Code Orange
Prince William County Public Schools: Closed
Spotsylvania County Public Schools: Remote learning Monday and Tuesday; 12-month employees to report on time.
Stafford County Public Schools: Closed
https://www.thebanner.com/education/k-12-scho...CGZARVMWHPUHLYH5SYI/

Anne Arundel County Public Schools will open two hours late Monday and Tuesday.
Baltimore County Public Schools will open two hours late Monday.
Caroline County Public Schools will open two hours late Monday.
Cecil County Public Schools will open two hours late Monday.
Charles County Public Schools will open two hours late Monday.
Howard County Public Schools will open two hours late Monday and Tuesday.
Kent County Public Schools will open two hours late Monday.
Montgomery County Public Schools will be closed Monday. Offices will open on time, and staff should report as on a regular noninstructional day
Prince George’s County Public Schools will open two hours late Monday. .
Queen Anne’s County Public Schools will open 90 minutes late Monday.

PG pivoted to a closure this morning. I don’t think this whole list needs to be related every time someone asks about dcps specifically and someone makes the point that they do not have to worry about bus clearance.

The point is a whole lot of schools are open today. Some were open last week. It isn't just DCPS which has metro. Some schools have virtual learning. Many schools have buses running even though the snow hasn't melted.

People keep insisting that MCPS is special. That it can't open, that it can't do virtual learning. That its just TOO HARD. But these these other schools can't.

MCPS is the biggest county in the state. Fairfax county is also closed in VA. PG county also decided to close today. Stop bashing MCPS. Its not the only county closed. Yes private schools are open, lucky them. Not the end of the world.

There's a dozen public school districts in the close-in DMV area open today. MCPS is not the ONLY county closed, but 7 days after the storm, it's close to the bottom of the barrel, if not THE bottom of the barrel. MCPS is completely closed. It has no virtual learning option. It has no prospects to do virtual learning because it neglected to submit the plan it promised to do in 2024 to MSDE. And it was so dumb it only included 1 snow day in the calendar, even though we had a deficit of 3 snow days last year and a disaster 3 days of "in person learning" tacked on at the very end of June.

You have low standards for what MCPS is expected to deliver. I don't.

+1 milllion

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In IEP's, every service section has a spot to say if this service could be given virtually or what would be different in a virtual setting, so there is a plan in every IEP that takes virtual changes into account.

To the poster who keeps mentioning using AAC devices remotely... while a teacher can't directly support that student there are online pages of aac screens and pathways that can be shared for instruction (even printed as worksheets/packets to guide students to find the words). Maybe the student can't do that independently, yet, but that exposure may be enough for virtual, it's certainly better than nothing.

+1 Some people just keep repeating the same excuses over and over again as an excuse for doing nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many parents screaming on here just want someone else watching their kids. They disguise it as wanting to maximise in-person learning. I get it, we all need a break but come on -

Of course they do - THEY HAVE TO WORK. How is this so hard to understand. In this area, both parents have to work to pay the bills. All you people ranting about how we’re just using school as childcare and should instead be paying $$$$ for backup childcare available 24/7 at whatever whim you want are delusional. How is one supposed to find backup childcare on short notice if they don’t have family around? The teachers instead are getting a free paid vacation buffered by their unions on our taxpayer dime. Meanwhile, parents are expected to do their full time job, teach their kids, and feel bad for said teachers and school staff. No thank you.

- signed a private school parent also paying $$$$ in taxes for these subpar schools. Yes, i can afford backup care, but I am not so out of touch as to assume everyone can and should be able to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HS teacher here. I really wish we had a few days of virtual school. This is getting ridiculous. And once we go back, it takes a couple days to get back into the groove so the first couple days are inefficient. I wish I could have done virtual for my AP kids. No one ever thinks about them.

Go away teacher. This thread is for people who want to complain that anyone who wants to open schools 7 days after a storm while it's bright and sunny day hates children and wants them dead from a falling icicle to the head. All the school districts in the area that operated today--DCPS, ACPS, HoCo, Baltimore, Falls Church, Loudoun County, Alexandria-- they are full of parents who hate their children so much they made them attend school!

This situation is really the worst for high school kids. All have Chromebooks. All are used to virtual learning. In some schools, 40% of kids take AP classes and will be compared to kids across the nation who started school earlier in August or even in July and didn't have their school completely close for 6 days due to snow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This screams union all over it.

They missed their records day 1/26 so are getting it 2/2. Kids be damned.

Yup. That’s the way this makes sense. They need the grading day back despite being closed all of last week.

You try finalizing grades for 150 kids on the same day you are meeting new kids and planning for a new quarter.

And if you respond with, “it should have been done last week” when we weren’t getting paid… you are part of the problem why educators leave. The disrespect is unfathomable.

Don’t worry-you’ll get paid for a full day’s work when MCPS adds 4 half days in June and you put videos on to entertain the students while you clean out you classroom, when you’re paid a good salary to do actual instructional time.

This is what bothers me the most about MCPS adding days to the school year. Take away any remaining professional days and whatever part of spring break is not legally required. MCPS adds half days instead and of actual instruction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This screams union all over it.

They missed their records day 1/26 so are getting it 2/2. Kids be damned.

Yup. That’s the way this makes sense. They need the grading day back despite being closed all of last week.

You try finalizing grades for 150 kids on the same day you are meeting new kids and planning for a new quarter.

And if you respond with, “it should have been done last week” when we weren’t getting paid… you are part of the problem why educators leave. The disrespect is unfathomable.

Don’t worry-you’ll get paid for a full day’s work when MCPS adds 4 half days in June and you put videos on to entertain the students while you clean out you classroom, when you’re paid a good salary to do actual instructional time.

This is what bothers me the most about MCPS adding days to the school year. Take away any remaining professional days and whatever part of spring break is not legally required. MCPS adds half days instead and of actual instruction.

Yes. It baffles me that people scream about how it's impossible to do virtual learning because their kid learns better in person and it's inferior to the in-person product MCPS offers. It's like they want to ignore that last year MCPS added only half days in end-June where most kids spend their days in front of screens, because instruction was over for the year.